BLACKBURN skipper Garry Flitcroft today said Peter Reid is the man to bring the good times back to Elland Road as Rovers prepare for a showdown with Leeds United tomorrow.

Flitcroft knows all about Reid's qualities as a manager following a spell under the gritty scouser at Manchester City during the early 1990s.

And the 30-year-old midfielder has given his former mentor a glowing reference as the United board deliberate over who to appoint as Terry Venables' long-term successor.

Reid is currently in pole-position after Monday night's 2-0 win over Fulham eased the club's relegation worries.

When he took over as caretaker of the cash-strapped Yorkshire giants last month, United were in freefall and heading for the First Division following a player exodus.

But the former Sunderland boss has injected some much-needed fighting spirit into the dressing room and a win against Rovers would all but secure their place in the top-flight for another 12 months.

"I think he's done well enough to be given the job on a permanent basis," said Flitcroft.

"He got brought in to do a specific job and he's now virtually achieved what he set out to do.

"At the end of the day, Leeds are a massive club but Reidy deserves the chance to show what he can do there.

"He's a tremendous motivator.

"When he was at City, the players had a lot of respect for him.

"He works very, very hard and really gets the best out of the people around him.

"He's got bags of enthusiasm and training used to be enjoyable everyday under him."

Despite Flitcroft's obvious respect for his former boss, that won't stop the Ewood enforcer from trying to prolong Leeds' agony for a little longer yet.

Rovers need a victory themselves to keep the momentum going in their push for a top-six finish.

With three games to go, they currently trail Everton by three points which makes a win imperative tomorrow.

"The gaffer pulled us in a few weeks ago and told us we had 30 points still to play for and he wanted us to win as many of our remaining games as possible," said Flitcroft.

"After that we then won six out of seven and that just shows the attitude there is amongst the lads.

"We want that place in Europe and we've got to try and win all of our last three games to make that happen.

"That's why tomorrow is a big, big game for us. If we can get three points there then that will set us up for West Brom."

United, in contrast, will just be glad to get the season over with, safe in the knowledge that they won't be joining West Brom and Sunderland in the Nationwide abyss.

Haunted by the spectre of financial ruin, the Elland Road club have spent the last nine months lurching from one major crisis to another.

Top stars such as Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate have all been sold to offset debts of £80 million.

It's all a far cry from the days under David O'Leary when the club reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

"Leeds fans are used to seeing their team near the top of the league and spending money so it must have been hard to then see some of their best players being sold," said Flitcroft.

"Then they got sucked into a relegation battle and some of their players hadn't experienced that before which is why they found it hard to pick up results.

"When you're down at the bottom it's a different type of pressure and maybe some of them didn't cope with that too well to begin with.

"But it's still going to be tough tomorrow. Leeds have got some quality players and the pressure seems to have eased.

"If anything, the pressure is on us because we need to take maximum points from our last three games."

Elland Road, tomorrow 3pm